Contis Financial Services (also known as Solaris EMI) - Special Administration

Contis Financial Services (also known as Solaris EMI), a Skipton-based firm authorised by the FCA to issue e-money and provide payment services, entered special administration on 30 January, with Joshua Dwyer and Robert Spence of Interpath appointed as special administrators.

Contis was acquired by Solaris in 2022.

In 2023, the company was fined €840,000 by the Bank of Lithuania (where it held its Electronic Money Institution licence) for failing to comply with the requirements for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as information security and business continuity risk management.

In late 2024, Solaris announced it was discontinuing the Contis business and began a wind-down of its operations, including the transfer of the Engage business to Suits Me. The wind-down was scheduled to be completed by April 2025 but was sidetracked by a long-running dispute with a financial institution regarding the release of certain customer safeguarded funds. As a result, the company was placed into special administration, with customers of the Trilogy, Ffrees and Naga Pay distributor programmes impacted.

Solaris has a registered charge against the company.

The company’s directors were represented by CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang.